Montana Governor Greg Gianforte speaks during a bill signing ceremony on the steps of the state Capitol, Wednesday, May 3, 2023, in Helena, Mont. The state’s Republican-controlled legislature has passed several bills related to abortion access, and Gianforte signed five of them on Wednesday, including one that will likely cause the state’s Supreme Court to reconsider its decision. of nearly 25 years that supports the right to pre-viability abortion by a provider of the patient’s choice. The Montana Supreme Court used this ruling on Friday, May 12, 2023 to declare that advanced practice registered nurses can continue to perform abortions in Montana. (Thom Bridge/Independent Record via AP, File)
The Montana Supreme Court on Friday unanimously extended abortion protections in the state — part of an ongoing effort by the governor and GOP lawmakers to erode women’s medical rights.
In a 7-0 ruling, the state’s top treasury court sided with an advanced practice nurse practitioner and clinician who challenged a 2005 law that restricted who could provide services of abortion.
“[U]Under the Montana Constitution, the right to individual privacy, meaning the right to personal autonomy or the right to be left alone, is fundamental,” the court noted, citing a previous. “It is perhaps one of the most important rights guaranteed to the citizens of this state, and its distinct textual protection in our Constitution reflects Montanans’ historical abhorrence and distrust of undue government interference. in their personal life.”
Earlier, a district court struck down that same law, “Abortion Practice Control,” which limits abortion care providers to physicians and medical assistants, saying the legislature violated the “fundamental right a woman’s privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health professional”. care provider of choice” when promulgated.
The trial court was correct, Judge Laurie McKinnon wrote:
Article II, Section 10, of the Montana Constitution guarantees a woman the fundamental right of privacy to seek abortion care from a qualified health care provider of her choice, in the absence of a clear demonstration of a medically recognized bona fide health risk. The state has failed to meet its burden of demonstrating that APRN-FNP and APRN-CNM providing abortion care pose a bona fide and recognized medical risk. The state has presented no evidence to show that abortions performed by APRNs are more risky than those performed by physicians or physician assistants. The state has not identified any reason why APRNs should be prevented from providing abortions, and therefore has not stated a medically recognized bona fide health risk.
“As a result, [the statute] is an unconstitutional invasion of a woman’s right to privacy to seek medical care from a qualified provider of her own choosing,” McKinnon explained, affirming the lower court’s summary judgment ruling for the plaintiffs in the affair.
Previously, the law made it a crime for anyone other than a doctor or medical assistant to perform an abortion.
Attorney Alex Rate, legal director for the ACLU of Montana, represented plaintiffs who successfully challenged the law.
“The court expands access to reproductive health care, which is especially important at a time when we see our neighboring states restricting abortion care at all levels,” the civil liberties advocate said in reported comments. by Montana Public Radio.
Earlier this month, the Montana Legislature passed — and Gov. Greg Gianforte signed — a series of laws aimed at rolling back women’s abortion rights — including an effort to further strengthen the coming law. to be deemed unconstitutional by limiting abortions to doctors only. This law would probably be considered a dead letter.
Republicans also passed a bill to overturn the precedent, the 1999 Armstrong case, which the state’s highest court relied on to decide the latest case, stylized as Weems v. Montana.
This law will also likely be overturned if and when the court takes up the case.
“Regardless of the federal constitution, where the right to privacy is involved, the Montana Constitution provides much broader protection than the federal constitution,” McKinnon wrote in Friday’s opinion. “Delegates to the 1972 Montana Constitutional Convention viewed the verbatim inclusion of this right in Montana’s new constitution as necessary for the protection of the individual in ‘an increasingly complex society’. . . [in which] our privacy space has shrunk and shrunk and shrunk. Delegate Campbell proclaimed that the “right to be left alone” is “the most important right of all”.
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